Author: OwenPitts

What was the English Civil War all about? According to Wikipedia, “The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists led by Charles I, mainly over the manner of England’s governance and issues of religious freedom.” Eventually, the Parliamentarians were victorious in this war and sentenced Charles I to death. Eleven years later, Charles I’s son, Charles II, ascended to the throne. The losses of this war were crazy high, nearly 4.5% of the entire population. This war was devastating to England.

Who were the Levellers, and what did they believe? According to Wikipedia, “The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance.” The name levellers was a derisory term used for rural rebels. Many members would have preferred to be referred to as “agitators”, however, the name “levellers” just stuck.

What was the key issue that led to the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War? The main cause for the thirty years war was when Emperor Ferdinand II tried to force the protestants into Catholicism and the protestants rebelled, causing the outbreak of the thirty years war. The war eventually ended with the Peace of Westphalia. What religious accommodation was reached by Catholics and Protestants in the Peace of Westphalia? Basically, this peace meant that the two religions were recognized as equal and that the princes were allowed to choose any religion for their territory and force the people in that territory to conform to that religion.

Thomas More’s book Utopia is basically a book on the idea of a perfect world, or at least a very healthy and prosperous world. In this book, Utopia is a very prosperous city. Everyone is happy, there are very little conflicts, and they only fight wars if they help a neighboring city fight against an invader despite the fact that they hate wars.

Was More really risking persecution by the church because of his book? In Utopia, More never undermined the church and the book was written in clear satire, so no, he was not risking persecution because of his book.

(1) What were the causes and consequences of the Spanish revolt that occurred after Charles left to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor? When Charles was crowned king of Spain, he left Spain a little while later to be crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. While he was away, there was a revolt in Spain. The people who revolted appointed a new ruler, Queen Joanna, Charles’ own mother. About a year later, the Comuneros were defeated at the Battle of Villalar and the Comuneros were crushed, ending the revolt and the Comuneros leaders were executed.

(2) What were the causes of the Dutch revolt? What was the “demonstration effect”? According to The Memory, “The Dutch Revolt or Eighty Years’ War was a series of battles fought in the Netherlands between 1568 and 1648 which began when part of the Habsburg Empire resisted the, in their eyes, unjust rule of the Spanish King Philip II.” The results of the Dutch revolt were economic, political, and religious ones, but it was the religious problems that really got the revolt fired up. The “demonstration effect” is when people saw what other nations do, and try to implicate that into their own nation. The Dutch Republic was very successful at the time, and other countries tried to replicate that into their own countries.

(3) Who were the contenting parties in the French wars of religion? What was the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre? What was the Edict of Nantes? According to Lumen, “The French Wars of Religion (1562–98) is the name of a period of fighting between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).” The Catholics really did not like the Huguenots, so they tried everything they could to try to get the Huguenots to either convert to Catholicism, or to leave/die. Eventually they asked the king if they could just go kill a bunch of Huguenots in a city. Since the king was like stressed out at this point, the king agreed. This killing ended up being named the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Hundreds of Huguenots died that day. Eventually, the Edict of Nantes was signed, ending the dispute between Catholics and Protestants.

(4) Describe the religious policy of Elizabeth I. Some people thought that she had no religion because of her attracted to parts of Catholicism while part of a different religion. She even changed her religion when she became queen in order to create a stable and peaceful nation. She kept changing her religion, so I am not sure that she had a permanent religion.

Now, I do not know if I am supposed to speak for or against this proposition, so I am just going to give both sides of the story.

Online education is bad for society because it puts classroom teachers out of work. This is actually kind of true. If online education and schoolwork (like the Ron Paul Curriculum) put classroom teachers out of business, then they will not have a job, and they will not get money to raise themselves with. People need money to survive. Also, some classroom teachers love to just be with the students, and if they go out of a job, then that would effect both the teacher and the students.

Online education is bad for society because it puts classroom teachers out of work. There is also a good side to this too. If the teacher is fired or just gone, then the teacher is free to find another set of work that might be a better opportunity for them than teaching. Also, online education can be better for the student. The student can look through millions of topics and continue at their own rate. And online education is cheaper and more reliable than classroom teaching. I use the Ron Paul Curriculum and this online education is amazing. I can get up in the morning, feed my animals, and turn on the computer and do my homework. Most kids who go to a private or public school have to walk there, and they have to get up at like seven in the morning. I can get up at nine in the morning.

I have nothing against schools or online education. I just give my opinion, like in this essay.

How was the English Reformation different from the German Reformation? There were several different ways in which these two reformations were different. One of the differences is they differed in doctrine, but the main difference is motivation. The German Reformation’s motivation was belief mainly, while the motivation of the English Reformation was mainly politics.

What do we learn about St. Francis Xavier’s missionary work in the letter you read for lesson 13? This letter was written by St. Francis Xavier and was named the letter from India, to the Society of Jesus at Rome. It is in this letter that we find out that St. Francis wanted to travel the world, and teach others about Jesus. Well, he got to do this. He even got the chance to evangelize in Japan. He was trying to get to China to share the Gospel, but died before he could.

What kind of impression are you left with by the Spiritual Exercises? Why is Ignatius concerned about careless discussion of faith and good works? According to Wikipedia, “The Spiritual Exercises, composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Society of Jesus.” The Spiritual Exercises were ultimately designed to undermine the Protestant belief. These Exercises were meant to counter the Protestant views, and the Protestant’s views in the 1500’s were based on faith. So, Ignatius puts an emphasis on works rather than faith.

According to Wikipedia, “Sir Thomas More, venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532.” He wrote the book Utopia in the year 1516.

According to Wikipedia, “Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More, written in Latin and published in 1516. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs.” The book was later written in English in the year 1551.

Utopia is the word used to describe an imaginary, perfect world. Thomas More was the first person ever to write of a Utopia. According to the British Library, “More’s book imagines a complex, self-contained community set on an island, in which people share a common culture and way of life.” The overall theme of the book is the ideal nature of a Utopian society. According to PressBooks, “In Utopia, there is no greed, corruption, or power struggles due to the fact that there is no money or private property.” The concept of a Utopia is an ideal commonwealth whose inhabitants exist under seemingly perfect conditions. According to BBC Culture, “More’s Utopia is the creation of a well-meaning member of the upper classes with a plan, rather than the live-for-the-moment dream of a peasant or worker. In Utopia, private property is abolished. “There is nothing within the houses that is private or any man’s own,” writes More.”

This book, Utopia, identifies a world traveler. This traveler is quite sensible, as we see in this book. This traveler insists on himself seeing what works, and what does not work. He insists on the punishment fitting the crime. The traveler also says that if thieves had a job, they would not be thieves. People would not steal if they could work. He says that there really is no sin. There is just deprivation. The traveler also gets into an argument with the narrator later it the book. The traveler blames all evil on private property and makes a case for a centralised Utopian society, while the narrator says that the people need economic insensitive or they will not work. Basically the traveler is making a case for the centrally planned society, and the narrator is making a case for the decentralised society. After this, the narrator continues to describe Utopia. He describes Utopia as a place where there is no wealth, gold, silver, jewels, money, they have no value. He also says that there is a limited number of families in a city, and a limited number of people in one family. Also, no one even cares for fashion, there is no greed, and there are few conflicts. He even says that food and meals are free, since there is no such thing as money.

Why does More present the traveler as a sensible reformer early in Book I, but not later? The answer is that the majority of beliefs in the book would not be accepted by the majority. This is kind of like a tactic to help bring readers into the book, by first presenting the ideas that the traveler believed that was more believable at first, and then bringing in more radical ideas.

Martin Luther was a professor, author, hymnwriter, German priest, and theologian. According to Wikipedia, “A former Augustinian friar, he is best known as the seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutheranism. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507.”

\Martin Luther wrote On the Freedom of a Christian in the year 1520. According to Wikipedia, “On the Freedom of a Christian, sometimes also called “A Treatise on Christian Liberty”, was the third of Martin Luther’s major reforming treatises of 1520″. The three main points of this treatise are “bondage”, “freedom”, and “love”.

Bondage: God created use in his own image, and so therefore we are perfect, right? Wrong! We are slaves to sin, in bondage to sin. This results in the breakdown of communities, and in evil. When we do not believe in the Bible, or Jesus dying for us, then we tend to try to find other ways to earn Gods love and get our way into Heaven. When people think “I want to get this” or “I want to do that”, they think that they will be happy, but in in doing this, they risk turning others into objects meant to serve their needs. Basically, the bondage to sin results in terrible things.

Freedom: The good news is that God’s response to sin is healing and reconciliation and not punishment. Our sin is Christ’s, and Christ’s “goodness” is our “goodness”. This is called the “happy exchange” by Luther.

Love: According to Living Lutheran, “Love begets love. It’s impossible for true faith not to yield abundant fruits of love because it is by faith that we awaken to God’s abundant love for us in Christ—and love wants to love…. Love is the fruit of faith. Love is the mark of the true Christian.”

Explain Calvin’s main points in the selection you read from the Institutes of the Christian Religion. How does Calvin answer those who say predestination makes God into a being who dispenses justice unequally? According to Wikipedia, “John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation.” He wrote the book the Institutes of the Christian Religion. According to Wikipedia, “Institutes of the Christian Religion is John Calvin’s seminal work of systematic theology. Regarded as one of the most influential works of Protestant theology, it was published in Latin in 1536 and in his native French language in 1541, with the definitive editions appearing in 1559 and in 1560.”

Basically Calvin’s main points on this book is salvation of man through faith alone, and nothing else. Also, for the sake of consistency and maintaining that God judges indiscriminately, he believed that God chose from the beginning who will go to Heaven, and who will go to Hell.

#1, Sovereignty: Sovereignty means to have supreme power and overall authority. If you are sovereign, that basically means that you have overall authority over a specific place or thing. For example, I am sovereign over my books. Another on is, God is the Supreme Sovereign over the whole universe. Now, I used the term Supreme Sovereign because he is number one in the universe. Now, how does sovereignty fit into family government? One example is the dad is sovereign over the household, or the mom is sovereign over her stuff. There are a lot of examples of sovereignty in family government.

#2, Hierarchy: Another word for hierarchy is authority. A hierarchy is basically a system or organization in which people are ranked above others, and those people are ranked above others, etc. An example of this is my Trail Life troop. This is kind of like Boy Scouts, but different in a lot of ways. We have a hierarchy of First Officer, then Second Officer, then Quartermaster, then Junior Patrol Leaders, etc. In family government, the dad is above the mom, the mom is above the kids, etc. So you can see that hierarchy is present in pretty much every family government.

#3, Law: Laws are a system of rules established by a specific group or organization and are seen as regulating the actions of its members. Laws are everywhere in the world and govern almost every aspect of life. Every single type of government has at least some rules. There are lots of laws in a family government. Some common ones are “Do your chores”, “Do your homework”, etc. Some governments use people to enforce the laws. Family government may have the dad or the mom enforcing their rules, while other types of governments may use police officers to enforce the laws.

#4, Sanctions: Sanctions are basically ‘what I get if I obey the laws of the government’. Sanctions can be either good or bad. For some governments if you break the law you have to go to jail, or pay a fine, etc. But, if you obey the law, really nothing ever happens. But in family government, if you break the rules, you might have to get a spanking, get grounded, sent to bed with no dinner, etc. However, if you obey the rules, you may be able to go to a friend’s house, play your video games, earn some candy, etc.

#5, Succession: According to Google, succession is “the action or process of inheriting a title, office, property, etc.” So basically, succession means to be ‘ranked up’ in a government or something. In several governments, people get ‘ranked up’ all the time. In family government, a child might be ‘ranked up’ to dad when he gets married and has a child of his own, and the father becomes ‘ranked up’ to grandfather, and the grandfather becomes ‘ranked up’ to great-grandfather, etc. Succession also means to inherit something, like some old tools, or you might inherit a piece of property that someone had.

According to Wikipedia, “Martin Luther OSA was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor. A former Augustinian friar, he is best known as the seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutheranism. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507.” He was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany, and died on February 18, 1546 in Eisleben Germany. Some people say that he was one of the most influential figures in the history of Christianity, and I believe them.

An interesting story about Martin Luther. One day, he was I think taking a walk, and he was caught in this huge storm, and he did not think that he would make it out alive. So he prayed to St. Anne saying that if he survived this, he promised that he would become a monk. Now, in these days it was thought that if you prayed to a dead, great Saint, that the Saint would bring the matter to God and God would decide what to do. In this case, it was St. Anne that Luther prayed to. Well, he did survive the storm and fulfilled his promise to St. Anne and became a monk.

Martin Luther wrote a series of arguments against the institution of indulgences within the church called the 95 Theses. Now, Luther was completely opposed to the selling of indulgences (paying the Church to have your sins forgiven) and he officially claimed that the pope was as well opposed to the idea of selling indulgences. He claimed that the Hierarchy of the Church was corrupt for not intervening in the talk of the indulgence salesmen, but also that the pope had no idea what was going on and had no idea of the misconduct that was occurring, therefore he is innocent. Luther claimed that he was trying to save the pope from slander, but really, it was Luther that was slandering the pope! Here’s how. Starting from theses 82, Luther raises a series of embarrassing rhetorical questions about the pope. These questions make the pope look like not a nice guy. It is evident that apparently, Luther was not trying to save the pope from slander, but it was Luther that was slandering the pope. He is basically accusing the pope of the same things that he accused the Church Hierarchy of. He says that the pope is more interested in money than in saving souls, and where does he get this money? The indulgences, paying the church to have your sins forgiven. The pope does not care about saving people (even though he is really not saving anybody because the people are basically buying their way into heaven, and it does not work that way) as long as he gets money from the indulgences.

Apparently, Luther thought that the Church Hierarchy and the pope were both corrupt. Now, you may be thinking, “Well, if Luther knew that the pope was corrupt as well as the Church Hierarchy, then why did he try to make it seem like the pope was innocent?” Good question, and the answer is that he tried to make the pope seem innocent at first so that his arguments would not seem so defiant and radical.

Overall, I think that Luther believed that Pope Leo X knew what the indulgence salesmen were saying.

How would you describe the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation? According to History, the Protestant Reformation was “the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era.”

During this time there was a rise in High Masses, literary works being published, people listening to famous preachers, and pilgrimages. But, some of the things that these people did were not all good. During this time, the wars were savage, there were executions which were not uncommon, and people would be tortured for months and then killed.

The conditions in the Church itself was worse. Church members were preforming immoral conduct, they collected money from the public, and there was a lot of clerical ignorance because there were no seminaries to teach the preachers.

Above all, the Church was in desperate need for a reform, but it was not until the sixteenth century that reformation would at last arrive.

What were the Ninety-Five Theses about? What was the basic message of Luther’s complaint? According to Wikipedia, “The Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences is a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, at the time controlled by the Electorate of Saxony.” Basically, the message he was trying to get across is that, according to History, “In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of asking payment—called “indulgences”—for the forgiveness of sins.” I am just going to say, paying for forgiveness for your sins is so dumb. Why pay for it when you can just do it for free? I think that this is one of the reasons that Luther was so against indulgences.